Every on top at Sony Open’s halfway point

January 14, 2012

Every closed his second round of the Sony Open with three straight birdies for a 6-under-par 64 on Friday, giving him a 10-under total of 130 and two-shot lead over David Hearn, who kept the Canadian presence on the leaderboard with his second straight 66 at Waialae Country Club, and Carl Pettersson, who had a 67.

Brendon de Jonge shot 62 and was three shots behind, along with Doug LaBelle II and Pat Perez, who each had rounds of 67.

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Matt Every hits a shot on Waialae Country Club’s ninth hole during the second round of the Sony Open on Friday.

AP photo

Tadd Fujikawa drives off the 10th tee Friday.

AP photo

Hyundai Tournament of Champions winner Steve Stricker settled for a 69 that left him five shots back in his bid to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to sweep the PGA Tour's Hawaii events. Stricker was tied with, among others, Oahu's Tadd Fujikawa (66).

Oahu's Parker McLachlin shot a 74 for a 145 total, missing the cut by six shots.

Every made news in the summer of 2010 when he was arrested and jailed on a misdemeanor drug possession charge after agents were called to a casino hotel because of a strong odor of marijuana coming from the room he was in.

Every confirmed he was suspended for three months, returning in time for the last event, leaving him little hope of keeping his tour card.

The 28-year-old Floridian said he has put it behind him. He is married, and his wife is expecting their first baby in June. However, that didn't keep him from talking about how the case was handled, how he is perceived and the company he keeps.

"I don't do drugs. It was a crappy deal, man," Every said. "Wrong place, wrong time, perfect storm. And you know, I got three months out of it. It's over with. I'm not mad at the tour. They did what they had to do. I totally understand it. But it's over with."

Every, who did not have a bogey on Friday, said he is not a "party animal."

"I still hang out with the same people," he said. "I have great friends, man. If one of my friends likes to smoke marijuana every now and then, I'm not going to say, 'Well, you can't be my friend anymore.' Honestly, man, I know more people who smoke marijuana than who don't smoke marijuana. I know that's probably not the politically correct thing to say, but it's the truth."

Asked about the outcome of the charge, Every said he had to "stay out of trouble" for a year. One of his agents at Goal Marketing, Kevin Canning, declined comment when asked how the case was disposed.

Graham DeLaet, the first-round leader, had double bogeys on the 11th and 12th holes and finished with a 72 for a 135 total.

Stricker, who won by three shots at the Kapalua Plantation Course on Monday, was tied for the lead on Friday when he birdied the 18th hole at the turn, but on No. 1, his 3-iron approach into increasingly strong wind came up a yard short and plugged into a bunker, and he knocked his next shot over the green for a double bogey.

"From that point, I struggled to get any momentum going," he said.

The Kona wind that picked up slightly in the afternoon provided an unusual scene on the par-5 ninth. The 504-yard hole played to an average score of 3.957.